No worries Marcus, agree to disagree. We both could be right, wrong or a little of both.

Profit margins should (to an extent) always come into it. If they could sell more at 165, then they would. I am sure they could lose a little weight for little or no extra cost (The class is nearly a decade and a half old now), but would de-stabilise the class resulting in less sales and less profit for them.

I would have loved a 165 kg F18 before I bought my boat (providing I had 165 kg F18s to race against).... But would be very pissed if they decide to drop the weight of the F18 now and the majority of the F18 sailors would be the same. I would imagine a lot of current members will walk away and future members would be very shaky.

I could not care less about the manufactures (no offence) as long as they keep making the boats. I have raced boats weighing 180, 170, 155 kg as well as light weights from 107kg to 75kg.

From 180 (F18) to 155 (Tornado), I have found little difference handling them on land with 2 people.

The lightweight boats are easier to handle on land, but I would not race one with the same crew I race the F18/Ts with. On the lighter boats, I would have a much lighter crew who would not offer anywhere near the same strength to handle the boat..... Or I would do it all myself.

One thing that surprises me in OZ is how most of the light weight sailors (except A Class), throw away most of their advantage by using crap beach wheels. Eurotrax or Cattrax are a little pricey, but cheaper the a chiropractor.